Secret Whistler

 

 (imdb)

THE SECRET OF THE WHISTLER-1946-After the usual intro, a woman (Mary Currier) buys a headstone for herself (from Byron Foulger). Her husband Ralph Harrison (Richard Dix) is called away from a party he's throwing because his wife, Edith has a heart attack. He meets a model Kay (Leslie Brooks) and begins to romance her while waiting for his wife to die. Somehow, his wife gets better and overhears Harrison telling Kay how much he loves her. Edith throws him out but he returns at night and switches her meds with poison. She dies and he marries Kay. Everyone suspects him of murder but Kay finds the old wife's diary that has an entry that seems to clear Ralph. Both wind up dead and the Whistler keeps whistling. John Hamilton and Arthur Space have uncredited roles. 

This is another weird entry into the series (the sixth installment), this time directed by George Sherman (THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1944)). Star Dix would make one more film in the series, which be his last film appearance as he died in 1949 at age 56. His death may have been hastened by alcoholism.

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Cheap Western

 

 (themoviedb.org)

YOUNG JESSE JAMES-1960-After evil Northern troops hang his father, Jesse James (Russ Stricklyn) wants to join the rebel army to get revenge but Quantrill (Emile Meyer) doesn't want him. His brother Frank (Robert Dix) and cousin Cole Younger (Williard Parker) don't want him there either. But Quantrill has a change of heart and sends Jesse into a town in drag. He has a problem with Zack (Rex Holman) but he saves his life. 

This misguided junk makes heroes out of scum while still showing they are cold blooded murders. They talk about revisionism today! 

Merry Anders is Belle Starr and Norman Leavitt, William Mims and Tyler McVey have small roles. Co-screenwriter Orville Hampton worked a lot with director Edward L. Cahn and later mostly did TV work. Director William F. Claxton directed many episodes of TV's “Bonanza” and later made THE NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (1972).

 (pbs.org)

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Bikers

THE REBEL ROUSERS-1970-Strange biker film with Bruce Dern as JJ Weston, the philosophical leader of a weird motorcycle gang which includes Bunny (Jack Nicholson decked out in wool hat and striped pants), the seemingly out of place Halverson (Harry Dean Stanton) and (phony) Mexican Miguel (Robert Dix). Weston meets his old high school buddy Paul Collier (Cameron Mitchell) now an architect who's having problems with his pregnant girlfriend Karen (Diane Ladd who was married to Dern at the time). They smoke pot and talk about abortion and marriage. Eventually she's kidnapped by the gang. Paul is beaten up and escapes but no one in town will help him except some Mexican migrant workers. Weston and Bunny wind up having a knife fight. 

Many people who worked with Al Adamson contributed to this Paragon Entertainment Pictures production. It's also the only movie directed by Martin B. Cohen who years later provided the story for and produced HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP. He was the executive producer of Adamson's BLOOD FROM DRACULA'S CASTLE the year before.

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Wild Weird West

FIVE BLOODY GRAVES-1970-I can't believe this is the first Al Adamson movie I'm reviewing here! He was a staple of late night NYC TV viewing in the '70's and '80's. His stuff usually featured aging actors, long fight or chase scenes with no dialogue and bad SFX. Here's his only western! 

I love the cartoon credits too!

Death (Gene Raymond; once a popular star in the 1940's) narrates this low budget weird western tale. Cowboy Ben Thompson (Adamson regular Robert Dix who also wrote the screenplay) is hunting renegade Apache Setago (Adamson regular and future director John “Bud” Cardos) for killing his wife on their wedding day. He starts off by helping save Setago's half brother Joe Lightfoot (also Cardos). Then he saves a former girlfriend Nora Miller (Adamson regular Vicki Volante) but gets into trouble with her jealous husband Dave (Adamson regular Kent Osbourne). 

After Ben leaves Setago's minions kill the couple and burn their house down. Then Death introduces us to Clay Bates (Jim Davis) and his partner Horace (Ray Young) who sell rifles to the Indians. Ben meets up again with Lightfoot now wounded in an attack. Clay and Horace find Lightfoot's “squaw” (Maria Polo) staked to the ground by Setago and Clay rapes and kills her. The Indians then attack a stagecoach. Somehow the passengers manage to hold off the first onslaught. Scott Brady is crabby Jim Wade who's always barking orders at his wife. Paula Raymond (BEAST FROM 50,000 FATHOMS) is aging show girl Kansas Kelly and John Carradine is great as Boone Hawkins, a voyeur preacher. Tara Ashton (later Mrs. Dix) is Althea, another show girl who provides some new love interest for Ben who shows up (with Lightfoot) to help the group survive. 

They meet up with Clay and Horace along the way. After some in fighting Lighfoot gets his revenge on Clay but he is killed by Setago. Then the Indians attack and most of the remaining cast is killed off leading to a final knife fight between Ben and Setago. Death says: “One will come to me. The other will ride on seeking me. Because in violence between men and nations there can be only one victor and that is death”.

I read comments about FBG saying it's the worst western ever made. Well, of course it's not great but it's entertaining. The “oldsters” cast (typical of an Adamson movie) is great but the film is really enhanced by locations (it was shot in a Utah National Park) and the cinematography by future Academy Award winner William (now Vilmos) Zsigmond. Al himself plays an Indian who fights Ben near the beginning of the film and his own father Victor Adamson has a small role. The elder Adamson once made his own low budget westerns in the '30's under the name of Denver Dixon! Besides playing two roles John Cardos was associate producer, production manager, stunt coordinator and assistant director!  

As with most of Adamson's product it was distributed by Independent International, a company founded by former Famous Monsters of Filmland writer Sam Sherman. On the DVD from Retro Shock A Rama there's a commentary track by Sherman and star Robert Dix. (both still alive at the time of this review)

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Note: I just realized I reviewed another Adamson movie:

http://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2010/12/talking-chimp.html